Macbook Pro camera not working, tested app permission, VDCAssistant, SMC, NVRAM, MacOS; tried apple repair as well
My built-in camera has not worked for almost a year.
When I open Photo booth, it says "There is no connected camera." Zoom, Skype and Chrome cannot connect to the camera as well.
I have tried all software and hardware fixes I am aware of but to no avail. This has been very frustrating and I would deeply appreciate it if you could help solve the problem!
On the software side, I have
- checked app permissions,
- tried killing VDCAssistant,
- reset SMC and NVRAM, and
- reinstalled MacOS.
On the hardware side, I have shipped the machine to Apple to replace the display and the top case. Neither worked.
The machine also cannot detect a functional external camera .
More information of the machine and things I have tried are detailed below.
Machine information
General information
- machine: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- OS: macOS Monterey version 12.1
- processor: 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
Camera information
When I go to Apple icon > About this Mac > System Report > Hardware, the Camera and USB tabs give contradictory information.
- Camera: No video capture devices were found.
- USB: Under Apple T2 Bus, there is an entry of "Facetime HD Camera (Built-in)", which gives a list of its properties:
Product ID: 0x8514
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 2.01
Serial Number: CC213510KDTJ3Y32M
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0x80200000
Apple Diagnostics result
I ran Apple Diagnostics by following the instructions of https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731. The result was: no issues found (ref code: ADP000).
App permission
At System Preferences > Screen Time > Content & Privacy > Apps,
- Content & Privacy Restriction is off, and
- Camera is allowed.
At System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy,
Google Chrome, Skype, Snap Camera, Cisco Webex Meeting, zoom.us are all checked.
Failed Attempts (Software)
Killing VDCAssistant
Following the instruction of
https://osxdaily.com/2013/12/27/fix-there-is-no-connected-camera-error-mac/
I ran, at the terminal,
sudo killall VDCAssistant;
sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant
After inputting the password, the following reply was given, twice.
No matching processes were found.
The camera still does not work.
Resetting SMC and NVRAM
Nothing changed afterwards following the instructions of the following pages.
Reinstalling MacOS
Nothing changed after following the instructions of
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
The macOS is Monterey 12.1 and should be up to date.
Failed Attempts (Hardware)
Using an external webcam
I connected a Logitech C920X Pro HD Webcam to the mac, but photo booth still cannot detect anything. The webcam had been tested to be functional on my friend's mac, and on his mac photo booth shows what the external webcam captures once it is connected.
AppleCare service
I sent the machine to AppleCare. They replaced the display and the top case (with battery, ANSI), but the camera still does not work.
Conclusions
Judging from the fact that the camera is now brand new and the external camera does not work as well, this is very likely a software issue. However, even the nuke option of reinstalling the MacOS cannot solve it. This has been very frustrating. Any help is appreciated!